Case dumper



Aug- 2, 1966 J. H. HOLSTEIN 3,263,842

CASE DUMPER Filed Aug. 12, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet l ATTORNEYS Aug. 2, 1966 J. H. HOLSTEIN CASE DUMPER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. l2 1963 TRANSFER RAM FORWARD TRANSFER RAM RETURN ELEVATOR DOWN ELEVATOR CASE GRIPPER RELEASE BAR INVENTOR. JOHN H. HOLSTEIN ATTORNEYS United States Patent O 3,263,842 CASE BUMPER John H. Holstein, Fresno, Calif., assignor to Schenley Distillers Co., luc., New York, NSY. Filed Aug. 12, 1963, Ser. No. 301,324 Claims. (Cl. 214-304) This invention relates to an emptying device which automatically removes the contents of a container in an orderly manner.

In emptying lcases of articles such as bottles it is necessary to have an automatic device which will do this in as orderly a manner as possible while at the same time attaining substantial speed of operation. From this standpoint, the instant or time period at which the bottles drop from the case is most critical if smooth, continuous, uninterrupted operation is to be obtained.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an automatic case dumper which will gently free articles by vertically lifting the case from a case conveying means thereby permitting the bottles or articles to remain on a dumping station for further transfer. By so lifting the case, a Vertical distance substantially greater than the height of the dumped articles, the case will not have the tendency to tip or tilt the articles, thereby aiding in maintaining an orderly deposit of dumping station.

It is another object of this invention to provide a case dumper which will initially separate the case from the articles in a gentle, positive manner and will thereafter attain substantial speed of operation. An advantage of this initial gentle operation is that fragile articles such as glass bottles may be removed from the case with a lessened chance of breakage.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a case dumper of the above type in which the unloading station beneath the case dumper is in the form of a dead plate and wherein Vthe sequential transfer of full cases into position on the dead plate pushes the emptied articles onto a live conveyor for subsequent transfer onto an assembly line.

A feature and advantage of using a dead plate at the unloading station is that no live conveyor action is present which could tilt the articles and tip them before they have dropped completely free of the rising case.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a case dumping elevator in which the carriage will be driven a substantial vertical distance by only a short stroke from a driving means. As a result, the space limitations associated with many assembly line installations is overcome in a simple and facile manner.

Still another object of this invention is to provide an improved case dumper in which the full cases are passed in an unobstructed manner to an unloading station adjacent an unscrarnbling mechanism. At this point, the case is gently lifted by an elevator allowing the bottles to drop free. This elevator continues to lift the case until eventually the case is flipped over and deposited free of the dumping station. As a subsequent case is fed onto the unloading station, the cases side wall pushes the bottles onto an unscrarnbling mechanism which has a live conveyor associated with it for carrying the bottles toward the assembly line conveyor.

An advantage of this arrangement resides in the fact that the case dumper can be installed along side a conventional case conveyor mechanism to replace manual case dumping operators Without requiring substantial or ICC extensive structural and engineering changes in the existing case conveyor. Thus, there is provided a reliable case dumper which can be transported from one case dumping line to another or can be easily removed from the line for repair, while permitting a human operator to dump the cases as a temporary replacement.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent upon reading the following detailed description and referring to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of the case dumping system;

FIGURE 2 is an end elevational view of the case dumping mechanism of FIGURE l;

FIGURE 3 is a schematic circuit diagram of the case dumper of FIGURES 1 and 2;

FIGURE 4 is a timing chart showing one possible sequence of operation of the circuit of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a front elevational view of the case dumping elevator showing the carriage in the lowermost position;

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged fragmentary rear elevational view of the elevator showing a throttling cam arrangement;

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevational view of the elevator showing the case gripper flipping cam; and

FIGURE 8 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of one of the flap opening lingers.

Referring generally to the schematics of FIGURES l and 2 and the timing chart of FIGURE 4, the case dumping system comprises a feed conveyor A which can be gravity operated or have a live conveyor belt for feeding a plurality of cases B to a transfer ram station C. Actuation of transfer ram C moves individual cases in the direction of the arrow onto the top of the unscrarnbling table D. When a case B reaches the forwardmost position on dumping or unloading station 22', microswitch 31 is activated causing a carriage on elevator E to lower and clamp onto the case. Thereafter, the case B is lifted and the bottles gently dropped through its opening bottom flaps. These bottles thus remain on a dead plate 22 or unloading station. When the elevator carriage reaches an upper portion o'f the elevator frame, the case is tilted or flipped over and released onto the empty case conveyor F for transportation to another section of the 'bottling line. At this upper position, the elevator carriage closes a second microswitch 34 on the elevator frame and places the transfer ram C in a ready state for transfer to a subsequent case B to the unloading station or dead plate 22. While all this is happening, release bar H is periodically actuated to release a row of empty bottles onto a bottling line conveyor I. Once release bar H has been actuated a sufficient number of times, three for example, a counter circuit to transfer ram C is closed causing it to transfer another full case B to the dead plate where the side wall of the case will push the already unloaded bottles into the unscrarnbling troughs G where they are carried by a live conveyor toward release bar H.

Now referring more specifically to FIGURES l and 2 there is provided a case feeding conveyor A which can be of conventional line belt type. The at continuous belt 20 travels in the direction of the arrow carrying the cases B to the bumper or stop 21. This bumper 21 blocks the travel of the lead cas'e and positions it in front of the face of transfer plate 26 of ram C.

With the lead case positioned against stop bumper 21, transfer ram C is adapted to move this case from feed conveyor A toward the dumping station on unscrambier top D. Thus when the transfer ram C is actuated, the arm extends in a reciprocal manner to urge the transfer plate 25 against the side wall of the case thereby shoving the case toward the unloading station .or dumping station 22 located on the unscrambler table top D. A rearward extending portion 27 of the transfer plate 26 blocks the next case on feed conveyor A until the ram C is retracted. When case B tinally reaches its forwardmost position on top of the dumping station or dead plate 22, micro-switch 31 is closed causing the transfer rarn circuit to be readied for return to the inactivated position. Once the ram transfer plates 26 and 27 are suflicient-ly retracted, the next or subsequent case B moves into position against the bumper 21. As a result the next case is ready for transfer.

Considering the closing of ram retract microswitch 31 to be the start of a case dumping cycle, and understanding that the elevator carriage 70 is in the uppermost position on the elevator frame 100 at this time, and is arranged to clos-e the microswitch 34, elevator ram 5t) is actuated causing carriage 70 to lower. Referring now to the circuit daigram of FIGURE 3, with microswitches 31 and 34 closed, an electrical circuit is completed from the power lead A, through now closed case actuated microswitch 31, -leads 32 and 33, carriage closed microswitch 34 and to the electrically operated air switch 36. Common lead 37 provides a return to the other power lead 30B. This energization of air switch 36 directs pressurized fluid into elevator ram to operate on a piston to pull the rack gear 52 downwardly thereby rotating the pinionv gear 55 and pinion gear shaft 56 (FIGURE 5). As the pinion gear shaft 56 rotates within the two bearing clamps 57 and 58, which are connected to the elevator frame 100 by means of bolts or welding or other conventional fastening means, the two larger pinion gears 59 and 60 are also rotated. Since these two larger pinion gears in turn mesh with the rack gears 71 and 72 connected along the side rails of the elevator carriage 70, as will be explained shortly, the carriage is lowered. Before proceeding further with the description, it should be understood that subsequent opening of upper microswitch 34 will not affect the operation of electromagnetic air valve 36 since it is of a type which only requires an instantaneous circuit closure. When elevator carriage reaches its lowermost position, it activates microswitch 39 to close the circuit and reverse the current to the electromagnetic air valve 36. This causes the elevator ram 50 to reverse its direction driving the reciprocating rack gear 52 upwardly. The reversal in direction in rack gear 52 rotates to meshed pinion gears in the opposite direction causing the elevator carriage 70 to rise in much the same mechanical manner as previously discussed for the downward stroke.

With elevator carriage 70 on the lower portion of frame 100, the case gripper arms and 91, as illustrated in FIGURE 1 and FIGURE 5, are supported on the carriage in a horizontally extending position. Once carriage 70 reaches a lowermost position, the case gripper three-way control valve is cammed open to retract the piston arm 121 of the case gripper piston cylinder 122 thereby pivoting the case gripper arm 123 inward so that the clamp bracket 125 grips one corner of the case. The angle bracket 130 which is secured to the end .of the short arm 91 grips the diametric opposite corner of the case thereby permitting the case B to be held as it is lifted free of the dumping station 22 on the upward stroke of the elevator.

As elevator carriage 70 approaches its lowermost portion, a oating bar or arm 133 which is connected to case gripper, arm 90 tilts a pair of ilap opening fingers 122 so that .they are inserted between the case flap to insure opening of `the case. As illustrated in FIGS. 1, 2, and 8,

bar 133 contacts the beveled top 123 .of one of the fingers 122, the latter being coupled to the other nger 122 by shaft 124. Fingers 122 then swing upwardly against the adjacent side case C. The pointed ends 135 of the fingers will then be partially disposed between the outer bottom flaps 137 and the inner bottom flaps. Collars 125 on each side of each linger 122 keeps the latter secured adjacent support bracket 126 coupled to shaft 124, bracket 126 being secured to dead plate 22 by bolts 127. As the case is lifted, fingers 122 continue to rotate until one nger is stopped by a projection 128 on bracket 126. The result is that lingers 122 will impede the upward travel of the outer bottom flaps 137 `as case C continues upwardly thus causing the bottom of the case to open.

As case B is lifted free of the dumping station, the weight of the bottes also opens the aps causing the bottles to separate or drop from the case. Eventually the bottles are completely free of the case and are left standing upright on a dead plate 22 mounted on the top of the unscrambler table D. When elevator carriage 70 again reaches the uppermost position, the arms are tiltably swung over the top of the elevator frame by cam and cam follower 83 and S4. When the carriage reaches a certain height, the case gripper height, the case gripper piston valve is cammed closed cutting off the pressurized fluid and causing an internal spring means to eX- tend the rod 131 and pivotally release the case gripper clamp from the corner of the case allowing it to fall onto empty case conveyor F. With reference to the case gripper piston, this can be of any conventional type in which pressurized uid such as air causes the piston rod 131 to retract into Cylinder 129 against the force of a coil spring and the removal of the air pressure causes the same arm to extend outward from the cylinder 129 under spring pressure.

Once the empty case is on empty case conveyor F the endless belt 23, which is wrapped around sleeve roller 24, carries it in the direction of the arrow.

With elevator carriage 70 returned to the uppermost position onframe 100 microswitch 34 is again closed. This again instantaneously closes part Iof the power circuit to the electromechanical valve 36 to ready the elevator ram 50 f-or downward operation. During the time Ithat the case transfer, dumping, and releasing steps have been taking place, release bar H has been periodically releasing a yrank of bottles onto the bottling line conveyor I. As the bottles are positioned on endless belt 41 of the bottling line conveyor I, .they are carriedv in the direction of the arnow toward -a lling mechanism (not shown). Everytime release bar 40 releases a third rank of bottles ont-o the bottling line conveyor belt I,

counter 43 is actuated closing switch 44 to complete input power circuit from lead 30a through leads 45 and 46 through the electro-mechanical valve 47 associated with transfer ram C. Thus, pressurized fluid entering the transfer ram C extends the piston rod 25 thereby i shoving the next case onto the unscrambler table top D in the manner previously described.

As this subsequent case reaches the dead plate 22 or dumping station, the cases forward wall s-hoves the bottles, which were dumped from the preceding case, into the unscrambling frame G where they are transferred along panallel troughs lby means of a live 'belt running along the unscrambling frames.

When .the subsequent case has reached the edges of the unscrambling troughs, it is stopped and the eleva- Ito-r and transfer ram control microswitch 31 closed. With both microswitch 31 closed by case B and upper limit microswitch 34 closed by the carriage 70, the circuit to the elevator cylinder electro-mechanical control valve 36 is closed' in the opposite direction to energize elevator cylinder 50 thereby retracting the rack 52 and driving carriage 70 downward in the manner previously discussed. In addition, closure of limit switch 31 completes the circuit to the right hand side of the transfer rams electro-mechanical control valve 47 from the input power lead 30a, lead 30, and lead 32. With the current polarity so reversed on electno-mechanical valve 47, the input huid operates on a piston to retract arm 25 within cylinder C in the manner previously discussed, thereby setting up the next full case for sequential transfer onto the unscrarnbling table D.

With regard to the `details of elevator E, the carriage 70 and frame 100, illustrated in FIGURE 5, may be taken as representative. Carriage 70 is substantially rectangular in shape having two vertically extending support members 70a and 70b with a lower horizontal support member 70e` and an upper horizontal support member 70d extending between them. Each of the horizontally extending members 70cand 70d are secured to the vertically extending members by means of welding, rivets or any other conventional fastening means. Thus, lall the carriage mernbers are rigidly maintained in a substantially rectangular relationship.

Referring now to details of elevator frame 100, there is provided a pair of vertically exten-ding guide rails 101 and 102 which are maintained in parallel spaced apart relationship Iby means of a lower horizontal brace 103 and upper horizontal brace 104. Both lower brace 103y and upper brace 104 are rigidly secured to the vertically extending guide rails 101 and 102 by welding, riveting, bol-ting, or any other conventional fastening means. In dimensioning .the horizontal braces, they should be suiciently long so that the elevator rails 101 and 102 are maintained in a spaced apart distance slightly greater than the width of the carriage 70. This relationship thus permits the carriage 70 to freely travel within the frame.

Referring now to carriage 70, as mounted within frame 100, a plurality of guide rollers 73 to 76 are attached to the vertically extending carriage members 70a and 70b near `each corner of the carriage frame 70. Each of these guide rollers extend suciently far horizontally .to ride on vertically extending elevator frame guide rails 101 and 102 to guide carriage 70 within frame 100. An identical grouping of guide rollers (not shown) are provided on the reverse side of the elevator carriage frame 70 adjacent the front rollers 73 to 76. The spacing between the rollers on opposite sides of the frame can be slightly greater than the .thickness of the rails 101 or 102 thus guiding carriage 70 for free vertical travel within the interior portion lof fname 100.

In order to vertically drive carriage 70 within frame 100, a rack and pinion gear arrangement mechanically connects carriage 70 with an elevator ram 50 secured to the side of elevator frame 100. This ram 50 can be of rany conventional pneumatic or hydraulic type in which pressurized uid directed through orifices will selectively cause the piston rod 51 to move reciprocally. The body of valve 50 is secured to the side of guide rail 102 by means of upper and lower angle brackets. Ram 50 is thus maintained or secured in a vertically extending relationship for directing piston rod 51 and the attached rack v52 in linear vertical reciprocal motion. A rack gea-r guide 54 is also secured to side rail 102 at a point above ram 50 so that rack gear 52 is vertically guided during ldriving and left meshed with the small pinion gear 55.

The small pinion gear 55 is secured to one end of the horizontally extending drive shaft 56 and meshes with the drive rack gear 52 for transferring driving power to carriage 70. A pair of bearing brackets 57 and 58 are secured, one each, Ito the rails 101 and 102 and receive drive shaft 56 for free rotation therein. A pair of larger pinion gears 59 and 60 are also secured to this notatable drive -shaft 56 at points intermediate of the bearing brackets 57 and 58, respectively. These larger pinion gears are mounted in substantial lateral registry with the vertical carriage frame members 70a and 70b. A pair of driven rack gears 71 and 72 are secured to the vertically extending carriage frame members 70a and 70h S by bolting, welding, or any other conventional means. The larger pinion gears 59 and 60 are in turn positioned so that they mesh with the teeth on rack gears 71 and 72, respectively, so that rotation of drive shaft 56 and pinion gears 59 and 60 will raise and lower carriage 70 within frame 100.

In operation, the elevator ram 50 is actuated in the manner previously described thereby vertically extending the Ipiston arm 51 and the attached drive rack 52. This rotates the smaller pinion gear 55 thereby rotating the shaft 56 at the two larger pinion gea-rs 59 and 60. As these larger pinion gears mesh with the carri-age rack gears 71 and 72, carriage 70 is raise-d vertically toward the top of the frame. Thus, it can be seen that 'by using a small pinion gear 55 and Itwo larger pinion gears 59 and 60, a mechanical advantage is attained whe-rein small movements of the elevator ram 50 will result in substantial ve'rtical .travel of carriage 70.

At times it may be practical to provide a slow initial response or slight time delay as the elevator carriage 70 i's started from its lowermost position. With such a time delay, it is possible to insure that the bottles initially leave the Case in a gentle orderly manner. In order to accomplish this result, a cammed throttling valve 110 is secured to the vertically extending guide rail 102 (FIGURE 6) by welding, bracket means or any other conventional fasteners. A curved cam 115 is secured to the rear of vertical carriage frame member 70b by means of a pair of vertically spaced bolts 116 and extending through the slots 1'17. As carriage 7i]l starts its upward vertical travel, cam follower roller 111 is moved laterally outward to pivot the follower arm 112 about the pivot pin 113. Valve stem 114 is connected to follower arm 112 at an intermediate point and tends to decrease the opening in a valve passageway within throttling valve 110 to restrict fluid flow through the connected hoses or lines. The crown portion of cam plate 115 is in the form of a flat table which operates to restrict fluid flow through valve 110 over a desired time interval as carriage 70 starts to rise. After the cam follower wheel 111 travels beyond the flat table portion or cam apex, the cam wheel then swings outwardly to increase the opening of valve 110 to full fluid ow. A-s a result, the speed of elevator vertical rise increases substantially to increase the speed of the dumping cycle.

Now referring to the details of the tilt bar mechanism and the associated case clamping arm, attention is directed back to FIGURE 5. A tilt bar is rotatably connected to elevator carriage 70 by a pair of bearing brackets 8,1 and 82. Each bearing bracket has an aperture extending laterally through it for receiving the tilt bar 80. Any appropriate connection between these bearing brackets 81 and 82 and the carriage members 70a and 70C, such as by bolts or rivets is acceptable. One end of tilt bar 80 has a cam 83 connected to it and positioned such that as `an elevator carriage 70i reaches the upper portion on frame 100, cam 83 engages the cylindrical cam follower 84 and rotates the tilt bar 80 for reasons to be explained shortly. v

Referring now to the case gripping mechanism, there is provided a pair of spaced apart arms and 91 which are secured to the tilt bar 80 by means of the collars 92 and 93, respectively. Rotation of tilt bar 80 will also rotate these arms as will be explained. In order to prevent the arms 90 and 91 from dropping below a horizontally extending position when the carriage is on .the lower portion of frame 100, each arm has a downward depending flange 94 and 95, respectively, which contacts resilient pads 94 and 95 secured to the horizontal brace 70d on carriage 70.

The longer of the two arms 90 has a case gripping mechanism pivotally connected to the outer end of it and positoned such that it will swing in to grip one corner of case B when the piston cylinder 129 is cammed 7 open. The diametrically opposite corner of case B is held by the angle brackets 130 connected to the end of the shorter arm 91.

In operation, the valve 120 to gripper piston cylinder 122 is of the conventional mechanical type which can be cammed open when the elevator carriage 70 reaches the lowermost position. At this time, the cylinder 129 is actuated and retracts the piston arm 131 to pivotally withdraw the clamping arm 123 about the pivot pin 124 to thereby rotate case corner gripper bracket 125 from the dashed line position to the solid position as shown in FIGURE 1. With .the case so held and with elevator ram 50 driving carriage 70 vertically upward by means of the rack and pinion gear arangement, when the carriage approached the uppermost portion of the elevator frame 100, case tilting cam 83 engages the cam follower cam 84 to thereby rotate tile bar S0. As a result, the horizontally extending arms 90 and 91 are ilipped over the top of the elevator frame 100 to position the empty case for release onto the empty case conveyor F. When .the upper limit switch 34 is reached, elevator travel is stopped in that power input into the elevator ram or piston 50 is stopped. Just prior or at approximately the same time as the elevator carriage 70 reaches the uppermost position, the 3-way valve to the case gripping piston 122 is closed and aspring means internal of the cylinder 129 extend rod 131 to pivotally swing the case gripping clamp 125 away from the case B allowing it t-o fall to the conveyor F.

Although one embodiment of this invention has been described in detail for purposes of illustration, it should be understood that other changes can be made in the shape, design, parts and material in accordance with ordinary skills in the art, without departing from the invention as dened in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a bottling system of the type which includes a feed means for moving cases of empty bottles toward a bottling line, a case dumper for removing the bottles from the case comprising: elevator means mounted for vertical movement adjacent the case conveyor, elevator drive means connected to reciprocally move said elevator between a lower and upper position, clamp mean-s connected to said elevator and extending therefrom for gripping opposed sides of a case on the feed means when the elevator is in a lower position, cam means connected to tilt said clamp means when the elevator is in an upper position for releasing the case, whereby the bottles are released from the case and fed to the bottling conveyor as the case is lifted from` the feed means.

2. The case dumper of claim 1 including first switching means connected to energize said drive means for raising Said elevator when a case is gripped and second switch means connected to energize -said drive means for lowering said elevator when a case is released.

3. A case dumper for removing bottles from cases comprising, feed means connected for intermittently moving cases of bottles toward an unscrambler, elevator means mounted for effective vertical movement with relation to said feed means, elevator drive means connected to move said elevator between a lowermost position and an uppermost position, case gripping means connected to said elevator including clamp arm extending therefrom for gripping opp-osed sides of a case of bottles when said elevator is in the lowermost position; first switch means connected to actuate said ldrive means for raising said elevator to an uppermost position when a case is gripped; cam means connected for tilting said case gripper, second switch means connected to release the case gripper for releasing the case when the elevator is in an uppermost position and for returning said elevator to a lowermost position.

4. A bottling system comprising in combination: feed conveyor means for carrying a plurality of cases of bottles to a transfer station; transfer ram means connected for intermittently removing said cases from thetransfer station to a dumping station; elevator means mounted for reciprocating vertical movement wit-h relation to the dumping station; case gripping means connected to said elevator for gripping a full case of bottles on the dumping station; reversible drive means connected for :raising said elevator to an uppermost position wherein the bottles fall from the case onto the dumping station; tilting means connected to release the empty case from the case gripping means; bottle unscrambling means connected Ifor receiving bottles from the dumping station; a bottling line conveyor connected for receiving bottles from said unscrambling means, release means connected to selectively release bottles from said unscrambler to said bottling line conveyor; transfer con-trol means connected to -reactivate said case transfer means when a predetermined number of bottles have been released to the bottling line conveyor.-

5. The bottling line conveyor of claim 4 in which the dumping station includes a plate and said unscrambler includes a conveyor for transporting the bottles to the bottling line whereby the subsequently transferred case of bottles moves the dumped bottles onto the unscrambler conveyor.

6. The bottling system of claim 4 in which lthe said case gripping means includes a pair of spaced arms pivotally connected to extend horizontally from said elevator at the lowermost position thereof, one of said arms being adapted to swing horizontally for clamping a full case of bottles between said arms, said swingable arm being adapted to swing away relative to the other arm to unclarnp the empty case when the elevator is in an uppermost position and said arms are pivotally tilted whereby the empty case is released away from the dumping station.

7. A case dumper for a bottling line including a case transfer mechanism having a dumping station located thereon for receiving full cases of bottles; elevator means including a vertically extending frame mounted adjacent said dumping station; carriage means mounted for reciprocal travel along said vertically extending frame between a lowermost position and an uppermost position; elevator drive means including a pressure actuated piston ram connected to drive said carriage vertically along said frame; `switch means connected'to actuate said drive means for alternately driving said carriage upwardly from a lowermost position and downward from an uppermost position; case gripping means pivotally connected to extend substanltially horizontal from said carriage at the lower levels of carriage travel and to tilt upward and out of vertical registry with the dumping station at the uppermost level of carriage travel, case opening means connected to open the case aps as the case is lifted from the dumping station to empty the bottles through the opening flaps onto the dumping station; means connected to remove bottles from said dumping station.

8. The case dumper of claim 7 in which the elevator drive means includes a rack and pinion gear, means connected to convert the short stroke reciprocal motion of the piston ram to relatively long reciprocal vertical travel of said carriage along said frame.

9. The case dumper of claim `7 in which the case opening -means includes a pair of spaced apa-rt fingers pivotally mounted to be inserted into the space between the case flap and case body as said carriage means reaches the lower portion of said elevator frame.

10. The case dumper' of claim 7 including Valve means connected to vary the rate of supply of power to said elevator drive means; and cam vmeans connected to vrestrict power flow through said valve when the said elevator carriage is on the lower portion of said elevator frame and to open said valve `means when said carriage is above the lower portion of said frame whereby the initial rate of carriage rise is relatively slow.

(References on following page) References Cited bythe Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Seidel 214-304 Gi'rotti 214-75 Malewice.

Demaster 214-75 X 1Q FOREIGN PATENTS 1,225,973 7/1960 France.

5 MARVIN A. CHAMPION, Primary Examiner.

GERALD M. FORLENZA, Examiner.

A. GRANT, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN A BOTTLING SYSTEM OF THE TYPE WHICH INCLUDES A FEED MEANS FOR MOVING CASES OF EMPTY BOTTLES TOWARD A BOTTLING LINE, A CASE DUMPER FOR REMOVING THE BOTTLES FROM THE CASE COMPRISING: ELEVATOR MEANS MOUNTED FOR VERTICAL MOVEMENT ADJACENT THE CASE CONVEYOR, ELEVATOR DRIVE MEANS CONNECTED TO RECIPROCALLY MOVE SAID ELEVATOR BETWEEN A LOWER AND UPPER POSITION, CLAMP MEANS CONNECTED TO SAID ELEVATOR AND EXTENDING THEREFROM FOR GRIPPING OPPOSED SIDES OF A CASE ON THE FEED MEANS WHEN THE ELEVATOR IS IN A LOWER POSITION, CAM MEANS CONNECTED TO TILT SAID CLAMP MEANS WHEN THE ELEVATOR IS IN AN UPPER POSITION FOR RELEASING THE CASE, WHEREBY THE BOTTLES ARE RELEASED FROM THE CASE AND FED TO THE BOTTLING CONVEYOR AS THE CASE IS LIFTED FROM THE FEED MEANS. 